[1565–75; ‹ L reverberant- (s. of reverberāns), prp. of reverberāre, equiv. to re- re- + verber(āre) to beat, lash (deriv. of verber whip) + -ant- -ant]This word is first recorded in the period 1565–75. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: broadside, conglomerate, excursion, syntax, undergroundre- is a prefix, occurring originally in loanwords from Latin, used with the meaning“again” or “again and again” to indicate repetition, or with the meaning “back” or“backward” to indicate withdrawal or backward motion. Other words that use the affixre- include: refurbish, regenerate, retrace, retype, revert; -ant is a suffix forming adjectives and nouns from verbs, occurring originally in Frenchand Latin loanwords (pleasant; constant; servant) and productive in English on this model; -ant has the general sense “characterized by or serving in the capacity of” that namedby the stem (ascendant; pretendant), esp. in the formation of nouns denoting human agents in legal actions or otherformal procedures (tenant; defendant; applicant; contestant). In technical and commercial coinages, -ant is a suffix of nouns denoting impersonal physical agents (propellant; lubricant; deodorant). In general, -ant can be added only to bases of Latin origin, with a very few exceptions, as coolant